December 2009's Issue

As government negotiators, corporate lobbyists, NGOs and protesters all gear up for the biggest international climate jamboree of all time, the NI asks: should we believe the hype?

Is the Cop 15 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen this December really our last chance to save the planet? Is there any hope of getting a deal that can deliver climate justice to the world’s poor, or has the UN process become a dangerous distraction from the real challenge of a rapid transition away from fossil fuels? And, if the latter is true, what should we do about it?

As activists deliberate over whether to shut negotiators in until they’ve made a breakthrough, or whether to shut the whole show down, cartoonist Marc Roberts beams inquisitive aliens Gort and Klaatu down to commentate on the ‘Copenhagen slam-down – a night of bone-crushing, planet-trashing, wrestling mayhem’.

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Louis Dai visits the Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place, a community-based programme to bring Aboriginal values into the Australian criminal justice system. But he wonders about the deeper roots of injustice in homeland.

The MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – Brazil’s landless people’s movement) – has been described as the world’s most dynamic social movement. Gibby Zobel joins in its 25th anniversary celebrations and explains why its existence is more important than ever.

L’affaire Tarnac is a story little-followed outside of France. Horatio Morpurgo tracks down the collective – whose members have been accused by the police of terrorist activity – and explains why we should all be paying more attention.

On Newsstands

Peace in Colombia? Hope and fear

World Fiction

Fiction has entered a new era. Writers of novels and short stories are no longer writing only for their own nation or even for readers speaking their own language but are breaking national boundaries and reaching a worldwide audience. In the process authors from Africa, Asia and Latin America are winning greater prominence – and a new phenomenon identified as ‘world writing’ has emerged.

This issue of New Internationalist not only analyses these developments but also showcases four exquisite short stories as examples: ‘Fat’ by Krys Lee from South Korea; ‘In The Garden’ by FT Kola from South Africa; ‘Ghosts’ by the Cuban-American Ana Menéndez; and ‘The Lake Retba Murder’ by Efemia Chela from Zambia and Ghana.

New Internationalist reports on issues of world poverty and inequality. We focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and the powerless worldwide in the fight for global justice. More about our work